Chinese military flights near Taiwan look like 'rehearsals'- Pentagon chief

US Defence secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday said Chinese military flights near Taiwan look like "rehearsals" though he did not indicate that he expected Beijing actually to carry out such operations.

Cross-strait tensions have been rising in recent months, with Taiwan complaining for a year or more of repeated missions by China's air force near the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.

"I don't want to speculate, but certainly...